Knitted fabric



April 2, 1935. R. H. LAWSON ET AL 1,996,648

KNITTED FABRIC Filed OC.. 20, 1930 fsb/192;@ gf

7 fNVENTaRs: l RoBERTHLAwsozz Rayz-T' Lax/ELL.

Patented Apr. z, 193s 1,996,648

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE KNITTED FABRIC Robert Il. Lawson, Pawtucket, and Roy F. Lovell,

lrovidence, R. I., assignors to Hemphill Company, Centr Falls, R. I., a corporation of Massachuset s Application October 20, i930, Serial No. 489,975

5 Claims. (Cl. Sti- 172) This invention relates to fabrics and particuor more main or body yarns until a point above larly to stockings or half hose having incorthe heel I5 is reached when one-half more or less porated therein a so called garter top. of the needles are so controlled as 'to knit a high In the drawing: splice iii, while at the same time the other or di Fig. l is a conventional View of a stocking or instep needles continue to knit plain fabric with 5 half hose provided with a garter top; the body yarn or yarns. Following the knitting Fig. 21s aview showing a few wales and courses l of the high splice any desired form of heel I5 of the garter top; is knitted'upon the completion of which a plain Fig. 3 is a plan View of the fabric, shown in instep il' is knitted with the body yarn or yarns l@ Fig. 2, the adjacent plain and rib wales being laid and simultaneously therewith a reinforced or l nat more clearly to show the construction; double sole i8 is knitted either with a heavier Fig. 4 is a view of the top of a stocking or half yarn or with the main or body yarn or yarns and hose modied with respect to the stocking or half an additional reinforcing yarn. A few courses hose shown in Fig. l; and short of the toe i6 knitting of the double sole I8 l Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing is discontinued whereupon all of the plain needles l5 elastic thread incorporated in plain fabric. knit a few plain, ring toe courses 2U and prefer- The stocking or half hose designated bythe ably with a thread or yarn which is thereafter reference numeral I is, preferably but not necknitted by the needles during the knitting of the essarily, knitted from the top to the toe, thereof. toe I9.

The top of the stocking may be provided with a Although as hereinbefore described the stock- 20 few tuck or other welt courses 2 followed by a ing is knitted from the top to the toe the knitfew one and one or other rib courses 3. Thereting may obviously be begun at the toe and conafter during the knitting of any desired number of tinued to the top in which event the steps of courses Il an elastic thread 5 is incorporated in the knitting hereinbefore described will follow one anknitted fabric and preferably between the rib other but in the reverse order. 25 and plain wales. The manner of incorporating 'I'he pull course I2 hereinbefore described is the elastic thread 5 in the knitted fabric is such for the purpose of permitting a separation bethat the said elastic thread 5 is, when initially fed tween the elastic courses 4 and the remaining to the needles, knitted in for one or more wales portion of the ribbed top I3 whereby the elastic and as shown in Fig. 2 it is knitted in with the top 4 of the ribbed portion may, when the stock- 30 main or body thread 6 at a rib wale 'l and at an ing is worn, assume a position at an angle with adjacent plain Wale B during the knitting of the respect to the remaining portions of the stocking first elastic course 9. The elastic thread may or in other words assume an angle with respect be knitted in together with the main or body to the leg of the stocking which is ordinarily thread at certain adjacent dial and cylinder wales assumed by the garter incommon use. Although 35 throughout the knitting of the elastic courses 4, as hereinbefore described the knitting of a pull and as herein shown the said elastic thread 5 course may be resorted to in order to effect the is knitted 4in at wales 'l and 8 although such knitdesired separation between the elastic top and ting in of the elastic thread at such wales, other the leg of the stocking, the same result may be than during the knitting of the first and last obtained by cutting across the wales of the stock- `40 elastic courses 9 and I0 respectively, is not essening at the place indicated by the numeral I 2. tial and may be dispensed with. After the knit- Whether the separation is due to the knitting of ting of the last elastic course I0 a few rib courses the pull courses or a cutting of the wales, sew-A II may be knitted following the knitting of which ing stitches may subsequently be applied to the a pull course I2 may be knitted in any suitable stocking top as indicated at 2|, Fig. 1, thereby 45 manner, the pull course l2 extending across a to prevent running of the severed or disconnected desired number of Wales but not across all of the wales.

Wales of the ribbed top. After the knitting of In Fig. 4 is shown a stocking top slightly modithe pull course any desired number of courses of ed as compared with the stocking or half hose rib fabric I3 may be knitted for the purpose of disclosed in Fig. 1 to the extent that the knit- 50 providing a usual top. ting in of a pull course or the severing of wales Thereafter the remaining portions may be as indicated at I2, Fig. l, is dispensed with, the knitted in any desired manner and as herein disstocking top shown in Fig. 4, being provided closed a transfer is effected after which a plain with welt courses 2, rib courses 3, elastic courses les I4 0f any desired length is knitted with one 4, and other rib courses I3 which are knitted 55 in the same manner as are the corresponding courses, Fig. 1.

I f it be desired to knit in the elastic thread throughout all ofthe courses of adjacent plain and rib wales, 1 and 8, thefplain needle which knits the Wale l may be so positioned as to catch the elastic thread in its hook so that thereafter, when the said needle is moved to a position to draw its stitch over adjacent rib needles, the elastic thread will be caught and knitted in by the next following -rib needle which needle knits the wale 8. The knitting in of the elastic thread at any wale is not, however, essential but the friction between the elastic thread and the wales may be relied upon to maintain the said elastic thread in position in the fabric although an adhesive may be used to assist in the holding of the elastic thread more or less fixed with respect to its original position in the fabric.

In order properly to feed the elastic thread 5 to the needles or rather between thewales of the fabric it is necessary that the end of the elastic thread be temporarily retained by the usual or other binder, which includes a clamp and a cutter, and which binder ispreferably located upon the upper face of a dial cap when knitting rib or upon the upper or other face of a binder plate when knitting plain. However, a special form of clamping and cutting mechanism may be used if desired, but in any event it is essential that some means be provided for temporarily retaining the end of the elastic thread within the needle circle, when knitting on a circular machine, so that when the thread guide for the elastic thread 5 is dropped to a feeding position the said elastic thread may properly be fed to the needles and between adjacent or other wales of the fabric.

Although as herein disclosed the elastic thread 5 is laid between adjacent rib and plain wales, as when knitting one and one rib, vit is obvious that the said elastic thread may be bound in and held between rib and plain wales when knitting` rib fabric in proportions other than one and one rib.

The rib stocking or half hose hereinbefore disclosed may be knitted upon any plain machine to which rib tops are transferred or upon any machine adapted to knit rib and plain fabric, being preferably knitted upon a machine having a needle cylinder and a needle dial adapted to rotate continuously during the knitting of circular portions of the stocking, while the cylinder, at least, is adapted to oscillate during the knitting of heels and toes.

One method of incorporating the elastic thread 5 is to feed such elastic thread Isubstantially at the verge of the cylinder and dial and with the cylinder needles in their lowered or depressed positions so that thereafter when the cylinder needles rise to take thread and thereafter draw the same over the dial needles, the elastic thread will be incorporated in the fabric and held between dial and cylinder wales; but the preferred method of feeding the elastic thread to the needles is to feed such elastic thread below the latches of raised cylinder needles and below the level of the dial needles which are in retracted position. 'Ihereafter the dial needles are projected and the cylinder needles are moved to stitch drawing position in the usual manner and as the cylinder needles reach their lowermost position the elastic thread 5 moves to a position againstthe fabric such as indicated in Fig. 2 in the patent to Riley 630,110, August 1, 1899. The said patent toRiley discloses the first above described method for incorporating the elastic thread between the plain and rl wales of a fabric and valthough the second described method is different from that disclosed in the patent nevertheless its effect is the same in that the elastic is finally bound or held between plain rib wales.

Although as hereinbefore disclosed the elastic thread 5 is incorporated between rib and plain wales, the top 22 of the stocking may be knitted plain as shown in Fig. 5, i. e., without rib wales, and extremely loose or` with relatively long stitches. The elastic thread 5 is incorporated in the fabric by passing forward of wales 23 and back of adjacent wales 24 and, if desired, may occasionally be knitted in at one or more of the wales as Wale 25.l l

One method of incorporating an elastic thread in'a plain fabric consists in lowering alternate or other groups of needles to such a position that the elasticthread may be fed over the tops of the said lowered needles and raising the intermediate or other groups of needles to such a position that the said elastic thread may be laid against or adjacent to the shanks thereof and below the needle latches. Thereafter the alternate cylinder needles are raised to the level of the intermediate needles, the elastic thread then being back of the said alternate needles and forward of the shanks of the intermediate needles.

Another method of incorporating the elastic thread in plain fabric consists in laterally deflecting alternate or other groups of needles at the upper ends thereof and laying the elastic thread between the deected, alternate needles and the intermediate needles, the thread being laid between the needles in such a manner as to pass below the latches of the said needles. By the method of feeding elastic thread to the needles just described the said elastic thread is held between the shanks of the alternate needles and the shanks of the intermediate needles.

Regardless of the method employed for feeding the elastic thread between needles the result is the same, and thereafter as the needles descend in the usual manner to knit the main thread or threads, the elastic thread becomes incorporated in the fabric and is held between the alternate or other groups of wales and the intermediate wales.

In any case the elastic thread, where it is not knitted in, passes between the wales in such a manner as to become part of the fabric.

Preferably the elastic thread 5 is fed to the needle under as light a tension as possible and if desired the said elastic thread may be measured out or fed to the needlesv by means of rotating rolls whereby denite lengths of such elastic thread may be fed to the needles during the knitting of each course; in other words, if desired, the elastic thread may be fed to the needle by means of a so-called positive feed.

The invention hereinbefore disclosed, when used in connection with hosiery, is applicable either to a half hose or to a stocking of. full length and although in certain of the claims reference is made to a stocking nevertheless there is no intention of thereby limiting the invention to a full length stocking the term stocking being used in a generic sense.

1. A knitted stocking the top whereof is composed of a plurality of rib courses having incorporated therein an elastic thread, such elastic thread being held between rib and plain wales and knitted in at one or more wales and in one or more courses.

2. A knitted stocking the top whereof is composed oi a plurality of courses having incorporated therein an elastic thread, such elastic thread being held between adjacent wales but not knitted and knitted at one or more wales and in one or more courses.

3. A plain knitted fabric having incorporated,

therein an elastic thread, the said elastic thread passing between and being held by adjacent wales of the fabric but not knitted and being knitted into the fabric at one or more of the wales in one or more of the courses.

4, A plain knitted stocking provided with a loosely knitted top in some of the courses of which an elastic thread is incorporated, said elastic thread passing between and being neld'by adjacent wales of the fabric but not knitted and being knitted into the fabric in one or more of the courses.

5. A knitted stocking the top whereof is composed of a plurality of knitted courses having incorporated therein an elastic thread, said elastic thread passing between and being held by adjacent stitches but not knitted in some of the courses and being knitted into the fabric where it does` not pass between adjacent stitches in the manner aforesaid.

ROBERT" H. Lawson. ROY F. LovEi'lL. 

